The Government has made decisions on proposals announced in April to change the settings for temporary migrant workers under the Essential Skills policy. The changes will support already announced changes to the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) residence policy and strike the right balance between ensuring New Zealanders are at the front of the queue for jobs and preserving access to the temporary migrant labour necessary for New Zealand’s continued economic growth. The changes follow a consultation exercise and include:
The changes will be introduced on 28 August this year, at the same time as the changes to the SMC. Detailed information about the application of these policy changes will be available within the next fortnight. That information will be published on the INZ website and will include how the remuneration threshold will be calculated, implications for family members of workers in lower-skilled roles, and how the stand-down period will be applied. Questions and answersWhy are we introducing remuneration bands and what will they be?Remuneration is an excellent proxy for skills and the introduction of remuneration bands will complement the qualifications and occupation framework (ANZSCO). The bands are:-
How will employers be able to source the labour they need under the proposals?Immigration policy is premised on a New Zealanders first approach and employers are required to ensure they are doing all they can to train and employ New Zealanders. However, these changes are not designed to reduce the number of migrants coming in on temporary work visas. Where there are genuine skills shortages, employers will still be able to recruit temporary migrant workers, as long as they can demonstrate there are not New Zealanders available to do the job. Why has three years been chosen as the maximum duration for lower-skilled Essential Skills work visas?A maximum duration of three years provides a balance between giving lower-skilled Essential Skills visa holders the opportunity to transition to a higher skilled Essential Skills visa or obtain residence, while also ensuring that migrants with no pathway to residence do not become well-settled in New Zealand. It also provides employers with time to recruit new staff or upskill existing staff to fill the role. How will the decision to limit lower-skilled Essential Skills visa holders to a maximum initial three-year period affect people already here?The change will not be applied retrospectively for lower-skilled Essential Skills workers already in New Zealand. The three year maximum duration will start from the date their next lower-skilled Essential Skills visa is granted after the introduction of the changes to the Essential Skills policy. Why are you restricting the ability of partners and children of lower-skilled migrant workers to come here?The changes are designed to ensure that lower-skilled migrants are clear about their future prospects in New Zealand. Lower skilled Essential Skills workers will take up employment in New Zealand with a full understanding that they will only be able to bring their family to New Zealand as a short-term visitor, unless they meet visa requirements in their own right. Removing eligibility for open work visas for partners of lower-skilled Essential Skills visa holders will potentially provide more opportunities for local workers to take on those roles. While some lower-skilled Essential Skills visa holders could be discouraged from coming to New Zealand it is not expected to reduce the numbers of principal Essential Skills applicants. Will the change affect families already here?Families of lower-skilled Essential Skills visa holders already in New Zealand will be able to remain here for the duration that the Essential Skills visa holder remains legally in New Zealand.
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Sponsorship no longer allowed by a person whose deportation liability has been suspended: Since the introduction of the Immigration Act 2009 (the Act), immigration instructions have specified that a person who is liable for deportation is not eligible to sponsor a temporary or residence visa. The generic residence and generic temporary instructions have been amended to also prevent people whose deportation liability has been suspended under section 172 of the Act from being an eligible sponsor. Support for partners and children by people who are liable for deportation or whose deportation liability has been suspended: Under both temporary and residence instructions, visa applications for partners or children of New Zealand citizens or residents must be supported by an eligible partner or parent. Immigration instructions have been amended so that: partners or parents who are liable for deportation are not eligible to support either residence or temporary visas, partners or parents whose deportation liability has been suspended will not be able to support residence class visas, partners or parents whose deportation liability has been suspended will only be able to support temporary applications if the person they are supporting already holds a temporary visa based on the relationship. For example, John’s deportation liability is suspended. His wife Mary already holds a partnership work visa based on their relationship. Mary can be granted further partnership work visas, however, she cannot be granted residence based on her partnership to John. If Mary did not hold a partnership work visa at the time John’s deportation liability was suspended, she could not be granted one until his deportation liability is cancelled. The Government seems likely to back down on changes to immigration law due to come into effect next month. The proposed changes to the skilled migrant visa would set a minimum median annual income of $48,859 for jobs that are currently considered "skilled" and make migrants leave for at least a year after three years of working. Several regional employers and the Canterbury Mayoral Forum have pleaded with the government to reconsider the changes, and they seem to have made some ground. Sources have told Stuff the Government are now actively considering not implementing the new rules after negative feedback from the regions. "We've been consulting on some propositions we put out a few months ago and will be making final decisions about that before too long," English said. "The whole purpose here is to get the skills we need in a growing economy that's creating 10,000 jobs a month. We need people to build the infrastructure, build the houses, to work in our growing export industries, and so our policy will make sure we will get the skills we need. We're listening to what's being said. We're well aware of the strong demand for jobs, and we will take that into account when finalising the policy." The changes, announced in April by Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse, were sold as something of a crackdown. Woodhouse said they were intended to help manage "the number and improving the quality of migrants coming to New Zealand". Public consultation on the changes ended in May but it appears lobbying has continued from business groups around the country. The Canterbury Mayoral Forum asked in June for the Government to reconsider the changes, asking for more than just "Auckland issues" to be considered. "Measures designed to manage Auckland issues do not well serve our region, businesses or communities," the ten mayors said in a letter. The region was "completely dependent" on migrant labour filling skills shortages, Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel said. The Government's proposal includes a one-off "pathway to residence" for 4000 temporary migrant workers in the South Island. Canterbury's mayors wanted to take that approach further. Immigration has become a hot button issue in the election, with both Labour and New Zealand First calling for drastic reductions in the number of migrants. The Green Party also called for a reduction, before backing down and apologising for contributing to a "xenophobic" moment. |
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January 2025
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